Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion has attached a tag line to the new Liberal government’s departure from the Harper government’s unabashedly ideological approach of “principled foreign policy”: “Responsible conviction.”

Speaking at the Canada In Global Affairs conference at the University of Ottawa, Dion told attendees that his guiding principle as foreign affairs minister will embrace some components of the Conservatives’ foreign policy, such as foreign aid for maternal and child health, but will mark an evolution from Canada’s previous longstanding role as “honest broker” in world affairs.

“Since the classic concept of the honest broker is now too often confused with moral relativism or the lack of strong convictions,” Dion said, “I prefer to say that Canada must be a fair-minded and determined peace builder.”

He pointed to plans to close the Office of Religious Freedom as an example of the new approach.

“We will defend (religious freedom) tooth and nail, but not through the office the Conservatives set up for this purpose,” Dion said.

The former government set up the office in 2012. The Trudeau government has been dropping hints suggesting it would not renew funding for the office and that it views religious freedom as a right to be protected alongside others, rather than on its own.

Among the rights Canada must work to protect are reproductive rights, equality and justice, Dion said, framing the doctrine as a departure from what he called the Harper government’s policy of “disengagement”.

When asked why his government is upholding the $15 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia arranged by the Harper Conservatives, Dion said it’s no secret the country has a troubling human rights record — but ignoring opportunities to work with the Saudis could lead to “damaging consequences” for Canada.

Those could include pricey penalties for cancelling the contract, he said. He did not say how much those penalties would cost.

As well, Dion stressed that Saudi Arabia would only go somewhere else to get the armoured vehicles if Canada cancelled the contract — and that losing the deal would mean Canadian workers in London, Ont. losing their jobs to competing jurisdictions like Michigan.

“Of course I would like to live in a world without weapons,” Dion said.

In the meantime, he said, Canadians must live in the real world and do what they can to strengthen things like export permits to make sure weapons sold won’t be used against civilians.

“Our world is highly imperfect and to improve it, we must engage with our eyes open,” he said.